The Steelers won't place a franchise tag on receiver Antwaan Randle El or safety Chris Hope for many reasons, including their traditional reluctance to use that tag. But the biggest reason is those two players aren't worth it. It would cost more than $6 million for Randle El and more than $4 million for Hope. The Steelers don't have the room on their salary cap, nor the inclination to pay either player that much.

P-G thinks Keisel could be headed to Cleveland:

The Steelers hoped to make Keisel a priority to sign, but instead he could come back to haunt them -- as a starter in Cleveland. The Browns have plenty of cap room, and Keisel might be someone they target and sign quickly. Two of their top needs are an outside linebacker/pass rusher and a 3-4 defensive end. Keisel can start for them at end and/or serve as a pass rusher.

I have assumed for some time ARE and Hope were gone, but I will be disappointed if Keisel goes as well; seems to confirm my view that if the Steelers do not re-sign a player before that player is eligible for unrestricted free agency that player is gone. Hard to argue with success, but still disappointing to lose certain players.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06057/661418.stm

Need4spd

02-26-2006, 08:54 AM

Well said, my thoughts exactly.

Cape Cod Steel Head

02-26-2006, 09:20 AM

I too see A.R.E. and Hope gone, but I hope they can find a way to keep Keisel. We need depth at that position. And if he does go I hope he goes anywhere, but the Clowns.

clevestinks

02-26-2006, 10:09 AM

I think we all agree! Keep Kiesel

SteelerMurf

02-26-2006, 10:38 AM

I really think they will keep Keisel. He will have the most bang for his buck. Another team is not going to sign him for starter big money. Even among Steeler fans, did you think 8 weeks ago Keisel was a must keep? I didn't until he exploded the last 2 months of the season.

Ambridge

02-26-2006, 10:55 AM

I'm glad those are only opinions!!

Brett Keisel needs to stay.

The definate goners for right now should be:

von Oelhoffen
Hartings
Tuman
Mays
Maddox
Williams
Brooks

83-Steelers-43

02-26-2006, 10:55 AM

Brett "The Diesel" Keisel is the one player I would like to see us keep. Hope was one of the two, but the more I think about it, we can get somebody in there to take his place (Colclough maybe?). The rest are replacable in my opinion.

Atlanta Dan

02-26-2006, 11:00 AM

I really think they will keep Keisel. He will have the most bang for his buck. Another team is not going to sign him for starter big money. Even among Steeler fans, did you think 8 weeks ago Keisel was a must keep? I didn't until he exploded the last 2 months of the season.

Keisel and Hope are in somewhat similar situations. Both had decent seasons and the benefit of playing for the Super Bowl winner.

For those reasons, the price for which the Steelers could have re-signed either one last summer is significantly less than their current price.

Steelers did not want to pay last summer until they received the benefit of another season's perfomance by Keisel and Hope (as I have stated previously, ARE was gone once Wilson was signed and the Steelers spent the $$ budgeted for the WR position). Both Hope & Keisel had a good 2005 and their price on the open market may now be outside of the Steelers budget; that's the breaks of life under the salary cap.

melroseplace

02-26-2006, 11:39 AM

Keisel going to the Brownies? I would never wish such a curse on him

BlitzburghRockCity

02-26-2006, 11:40 AM

Keisel is a priority as is Hope.. dont count on them being gone just yet.. both of them want to stay in Pittsburgh and both said they will be patient to see what the Steelers can come up with for a deal.

ARE is probably gone though, but the Steelers are not gonna let a young stud like Keisel go, with Kimo coming to the end of his career. Kimo would sign for less money to stay with us, I'd bet on that, and allow him to be a situational guy and let Brett take over starting in his place. Letting Brett go would be a HUGE mistake, as would hope.

BlackNGold203

02-26-2006, 12:01 PM

no way does Kiesel wanna play in Cleveland....

I believe we'll find a way to keep Kiesel and Hope

Bye Bye Antwann

Stlrs4Life

02-26-2006, 12:04 PM

I'm glad those are only opinions!!

Brett Keisel needs to stay.

The definate goners for right now should be:

von Oelhoffen
Hartings
Tuman
Mays
Maddox
Williams
Brooks

That's for sure. Kiesel needs to stay.

FanecaFan66

02-26-2006, 02:30 PM

Kiesel needs to stay!!!
in his case its not like we're letting some vet who's past his prime go! We're talking about someone with a tremendous upside who is starting to show it.

And ya gotta disagree with the Post article saying Tuman will stick around.

My question is WHY?! We can always find another blocking TE

Petesburgh66

02-26-2006, 02:48 PM

Well this is the price you pay for winning the Super Bowl. We will see who really wants another shot at repeating or taking the money and running to city with no shot at winning a SB.

pvpyrch@netzero.net

02-26-2006, 03:32 PM

I agree with Ambridge....Keisel needs to stay. I think he has a bright future and we need him. As far as Tuman is concerned, I don't see why all the fuss. He can go. I also realize why everyone is thinking that ARE is gone. Maybe he is, but I think he will come back and haunt the Steelers. Instead of getting all concerned about free agents, we need to concentrate on signing our own.

mopit55

02-26-2006, 05:04 PM

i think randle el gone but hope,keisel re-sign with steel.in free agent jamal lewis is good and happy to play with pittsburgh with our offensive line , that will be so terrific.for the draft mangold for hartings,sino moss for randle, wimbley or bunkley for kimo and brett, hope for cromartie. for the next season much possibility and sure a great year.

TasmanianTroy271

02-26-2006, 06:08 PM

The Post Gazette isn't taking into account how Kimo will take a pay cut to stay here. We gave him another chance after the Bengals cut him, and he knows he plays his best football here. He'll take the pay cut, and Kiesel'll get the starter money...

WyomingCowgirlBarbie

02-26-2006, 06:31 PM

NO NO NO> If Brett can't stay a steeler..let him at least go to Denver. The Browns...yuck. I don't want to be a Browns fan.

Man_Of_Steel

02-26-2006, 08:25 PM

Randle El is one of the most overrated players I've ever seen. I mean, what has he really done? He threw a TD pass in the Super Bowl, other then that....???????

Keep Keisel for sure, he is a lot more fan friendly.

SteelCityMan786

02-26-2006, 08:35 PM

No Way Brett and Chris are gone. Don't forget we need to resign troy to.

pvpyrch@netzero.net

02-26-2006, 08:42 PM

:rolleyes: Randle El is one of the most overrated players I've ever seen. I mean, what has he really done? He threw a TD pass in the Super Bowl, other then that....???????

Keep Keisel for sure, he is a lot more fan friendly.

:rolleyes: Did you forget his run backs on punts? The fact that he was a quarterback in college also makes him an asset in case something happens to Ben. He can throw the ball as is evidenced in the Super Bowl! If we lose him, I just know that he will come back and haunt the Steelers. I think we should do everything possible to sign him.

rowedf

02-27-2006, 09:32 AM

:rolleyes:

:rolleyes: Did you forget his run backs on punts? The fact that he was a quarterback in college also makes him an asset in case something happens to Ben. He can throw the ball as is evidenced in the Super Bowl! If we lose him, I just know that he will come back and haunt the Steelers. I think we should do everything possible to sign him.

completely disagree. I would LOVE to keep ARE, he's a good talent, but "doing everything to keep him" is way overboard. That is a perfect example of why teams go through such horrible cap issues......they overpay people that are not that valuable. ARE has his value and I'm sure they FO will evaluate it and offer what they feel he is worth to the team, but he defiently is not a "franchise" type player where you NEED to go all out in re-signing him.

83-Steelers-43

02-27-2006, 09:50 AM

I would LOVE to keep ARE, he's a good talent, but "doing everything to keep him" is way overboard. That is a perfect example of why teams go through such horrible cap issues......they overpay people that are not that valuable. ARE has his value and I'm sure they FO will evaluate it and offer what they feel he is worth to the team, but he defiently is not a "franchise" type player where you NEED to go all out in re-signing him.

I agree 100%

pvpyrch@netzero.net

02-27-2006, 10:07 AM

completely disagree. I would LOVE to keep ARE, he's a good talent, but "doing everything to keep him" is way overboard. That is a perfect example of why teams go through such horrible cap issues......they overpay people that are not that valuable. ARE has his value and I'm sure they FO will evaluate it and offer what they feel he is worth to the team, but he defiently is not a "franchise" type player where you NEED to go all out in re-signing him.

:dang: Obviously, we can agree to disagree! If we lose ARE, just remember your comments about him not being that valuable when he comes back to prove to the Steelers that they were wrong. I did not refer to him as a "franchise player". My question: Why are all the other teams lined up to make him an offer to acquire him if he's not worth much?

83-Steelers-43

02-27-2006, 10:19 AM

There are not teams lined up to make him an offer. The only two teams I saw were Chicago and Philly. If you consider that a "line", then ok. I'll be more than happy to stick by my comments. We'll see what his numbers are when he's playing in a Chicago or Philly offfense.

You don't "do everything to keep him". You don't break the bank on a WR that's good at punt returns and gadget plays and who's a good third slot WR at best. He's replacable in my opinion. I'm not stating we should not bother giving him an offer, but the Rooney's will not "do everything" in order to keep him around. If your expecting that, your going to be one unhappy individual in the months to come.

A good number of Steeler fans thought this team was going to fall into a dark abyss when Plaxico Burress left.......

Suitanim

02-27-2006, 11:22 AM

Keisel leaving hurts, and it makes more sense to keep him over the aging Kimo, but the Steelers simply won't overpay their players. Hopefully something can be worked out with him.

Before we collectively jump into the Allegheny, the Steelers lose some FA's every year, and have learned that the best thing to do is go find comparable players who are unhappy on other teams and sign them for reasonable cash. I'm confident that we will come out of this offseason poised to make a run at a repeat.

pvpyrch@netzero.net

02-27-2006, 01:06 PM

There are not teams lined up to make him an offer. The only two teams I saw were Chicago and Philly. If you consider that a "line", then ok. I'll be more than happy to stick by my comments. We'll see what his numbers are when he's playing in a Chicago or Philly offfense.

You don't "do everything to keep him". You don't break the bank on a WR that's good at punt returns and gadget plays and who's a good third slot WR at best. He's replacable in my opinion. I'm not stating we should not bother giving him an offer, but the Rooney's will not "do everything" in order to keep him around. If your expecting that, your going to be one unhappy individual in the months to come.

A good number of Steeler fans thought this team was going to fall into a dark abyss when Plaxico Burress left.......
:blah: OK...Just remember your comments. No one expects the Steelers to break the bank to keep him. We'll see who the one unhappy individual will be.

83-Steelers-43

02-27-2006, 01:21 PM

:blah: OK...Just remember your comments. No one expects the Steelers to break the bank to keep him. We'll see who the one unhappy individual will be.

:blah: Talk to the Rooney's. I'm sure they will take your "do everything to keep him" advice to heart...lol.

As for being the unhappy one. Personally, I'm already happy knowing the Rooney's are not dumb enough to pay Randle El more money than he's worth.

My point is not about what some expect, it's about you stating that we should "do everything to keep him". All I stated was that if your expecting the Rooney's to pay out of the yazoo for Randle El, your going to be one unhappy individual.

Once again, it's the Plaxico Burress mentality. All is lost, all is lost. lol.

blackngoldbaby

02-27-2006, 04:14 PM

im soooooooooo glad that were keepin ike taylor we really needed 2 !

blackngoldbaby

02-27-2006, 04:18 PM

completely disagree. I would LOVE to keep ARE, he's a good talent, but "doing everything to keep him" is way overboard. That is a perfect example of why teams go through such horrible cap issues......they overpay people that are not that valuable. ARE has his value and I'm sure they FO will evaluate it and offer what they feel he is worth to the team, but he defiently is not a "franchise" type player where you NEED to go all out in re-signing him.
i totaly agree ARE is a great player and all but its just way 2 hard 2 keep him we can always find someone decent 2 replace him

Man_Of_Steel

02-27-2006, 05:17 PM

i totaly agree ARE is a great player and all but its just way 2 hard 2 keep him we can always find someone decent 2 replace him

And what makes him so great? I put Hines Ward in the class of a "great" player, but definitely not El. I'll say it again, OVERRATED.

83-Steelers-43

02-27-2006, 05:35 PM

And what makes him so great? I put Hines Ward in the class of a "great" player, but definitely not El. I'll say it again, OVERRATED.

I agree. Said it once and I'll say it one more time, he's a good third slot WR at best. He can return punts and help with gadget plays. Both replacable attributes in a ball player. It's not worth throwing mass quantities of money at Randle El even if we had the money in order to do so.

Now, I'm not stating Randle El is a bad ball player, I'm not stating he's not worth negotiating with in order to try and keep him here, but I don't see it happening and the money that he will probably demand is not worth it.

Atlanta Dan

02-27-2006, 05:51 PM

im soooooooooo glad that were keepin ike taylor we really needed 2 !

What is your source that Ike Taylor definitely is staying?

Article I posted last week states Ike is hoping for a big offer that the Steelers may not be able to match.

WyomingCowgirlBarbie

02-27-2006, 10:11 PM

I will be one very unhappy cowgirl if Brett leaves.

blackngoldbaby

02-28-2006, 06:34 PM

What is your source that Ike Taylor definitely is staying?

Article I posted last week states Ike is hoping for a big offer that the Steelers may not be able to match.
well i heard that ike is stayin soooo im just goin by what i heard but if its still unsure then i HOPE HE STAYS im a big fan of ike!:bouncy:

blackngoldbaby

02-28-2006, 06:41 PM

And what makes him so great? I put Hines Ward in the class of a "great" player, but definitely not El. I'll say it again, OVERRATED.
i know ARE IS OVERRATED but im just sayin ARE has done good things but hes no one we really need well be fine with out ARE and i totally agree with u there is players that r way better than ARE on the team such as u said hines ward ect. it was my fault i shouldnt have said GREAT i should have said pretty good srry if i upset u

WyomingCowgirlBarbie

03-06-2006, 09:57 PM

Some of you folks are in big TROUBLE MISTERS. Keisel is spelled KEisel not KIesel. You're killing me when I try and search for any post about him. Next thing you know you'll be calling him Brad like some announcers and sports writers do. LOL. At the same time, I do appreciate all the things you say about the boy. Given that I guess I won't be roping and hog tying you. ha ha